Qatar Airways will continue flights to Iran, unfazed by US sanctions

Qatar Airways Group has expressed its commitment to continuing flights to Iran, saying it will not be affected by the US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Addressing a high-profile business conference in the Qatari capital of Doha on Monday, the airline’s Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said services to Iran would continue despite a tightening economic and political squeeze on Iran by the United States.

“Aviation is not a sanctioned industry, Qatar Airways will continue to operate into the cities we are currently operating in Iran,” he said.

He added, “Our flights to Iran will not be affected.”

According to the website of Qatar Airways, the airline’s Iran destinations include the cities of Mashhad and Shiraz and daily flights to the capital of Tehran.

The United States imposed a first round of its sanctions on Iran in August, targeting the Islamic Republic’s access to the US dollar, metals trading, coal, industrial software, and auto sector after Washington withdrew in May from a 2015 international nuclear deal. A second round, forthcoming on November 4, will be targeting Iran’s oil sales and its Central Bank.

US President Donald Trump said in August that companies doing business with Iran will be barred from the United States.

“These are the most biting sanctions ever imposed, and in November they ratchet up to yet another level. Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States. I am asking for WORLD PEACE, nothing less!” Trump tweeted.

In response to Trump’s tweet, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the world is “sick & tired” of Washington’s unilateralism by the US president.

“Tantrums & CAPPED TWEETS won’t change the fact that the world is sick & tired of US unilateralism. Stopping US trade and killing 100K US jobs is fine with us, but the world won’t follow impulsive tweeted diktats. Just ask EU, Russia, China & dozens of our other trading partners,” Zarif tweeted.

Major European airlines including Air France and British Airways have previously stopped flights to Iran, following the reinstatement of the US sanctions.

Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft said in May that its plans to sell planes to Iran will not change despite the US re-imposing sanctions.

The company announced that it would continue to cooperate with Iranian airlines within the framework of interim agreements on the delivery of SuperJet 100 (SSJ100) passenger planes.